BUFFALO — In his remarks to the Sabres as training camp got underway Wednesday, general manager Jarmo Kekalainen stressed they must put last season’s breakout 50-win, 109-point season behind them.
In winning the ultra-competitive Atlantic Division and ending their NHL-record 14-year playoff drought, the Sabres morphed into a legitimate Stanley Cup contender and became the league’s darling.
While it was all a blast — the 10-game win streak, the rollicking 39-9-5 run, the first postseason series victory in 19 years — it’s over.
The Sabres only advanced to the second round of the playoffs, falling to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinal. They did not even get halfway to their ultimate goal.
“It’s in the past,” Kekalainen said Wednesday in LECOM Harborcenter. “By no means we’re satisfied. Even though a lot of people are patting us on the back, saying that you had a great season. ‘Pretty good,’ I said to the team. Pretty good’s not good enough.”
For the first time in, well, what feels like forever – perhaps as long as 14 or 15 years – the Sabres have real expectations as they begin the season with a target on their back.
Simply making the playoffs will no longer suffice. They’re expected to win it all.
“We’ve earned those expectations with the way we’ve played,” said coach Lindy Ruff, whose Sabres will have their first on-ice sessions of camp this morning. “… We put ourselves in a position where we’ve got a standard now that we really like, can we improve on that standard, don’t be happy with that. Can we improve on that standard and be a better team?”
Right now, the Sabres, on paper at least, have a weaker lineup than the one that lost 3-2 to Montreal in overtime May 18 in KeyBank Center.
Alex Tuch, one of the NHL’s best two-way forwards, and Bowen Byram, who wanted an opportunity to become a No. 1 defenseman, are gone, having been traded during the offseason.
Instead of finding an outside replacement for Tuch, who left in a sign-and-trade deal with the Washington Capitals, the Sabres believe some of their young forwards will absorb some of Tuch’s duties and grow into larger roles.
Zach Benson, Josh Doan, Konsta Helenius, Jiri Kulich, Noah Ostlund and Jack Quinn could earn more responsibility.
“I look at it where we have some guys who are just starting the key areas of their career,” Ruff said. “You look at a Benson, Doan, Ostlund, Quinn. I feel you give an extra two minutes to all of those players, and all of a sudden, Doan is maybe playing 17 and Quinn is playing 16 or 17. …
“Those minutes are minutes that are really welcomed by the players. You hope with those extra minutes that you find that production you lost.”
Kekalainen, who noted the Sabres have the salary cap space to make moves during the season, said he did not want to overpay for a forward in free agency.
“First of all, there wasn’t too many players there available if you wanted to try to replace somebody,” he said. “… They can get a little crazy with the prices. As I’ve always said, July 1 is the worst day of the year when you make decisions you regret for many, many years if you go there to try to replace players. …
“With talent that we have internally, I think it’s we need to believe in the work we’ve put in to develop them … and now they’re ready.”
Of course, according to reports, Kekalainen pursued at least one blockbuster deal early in the offseason by making a significant offer to the Winnipeg Jets for disgruntled goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who won the Hart and Vezina trophies in 2024-25.
He recently went public with his trade demand.
Naturally, Kekalainen refused to comment on any Hellebuyck speculation.
“I have never told anybody in the media about any of the talks with other general managers, so I don’t know where it comes from,” he said. “But that’s the world we live in. There’s going to be rumors.”
Kekalainen expressed confidence in the three goalies the Sabres utilized throughout last season: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Alex Lyon and Colten Ellis. Ruff said right now, they will likely carry all three again on their 23-man roster.
“I really felt last year (goaltending) was a strength,” Ruff said. “We had injuries to the top couple guys. Alex stepped in and gave us a lot of good hockey. We had Ellis step in and won us hockey games.
“If you look at how compact the schedule is again, you start the year and we will find what works immediately. And what worked last year was they shared the net. And probably in all probability that’s how we’ll start again.”
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In addition to his role as a special assistant to Kekalainen, former Sabres center Eric Staal will now be doing on-ice work during the season, Ruff said.
“He’s going to help us with centermen, and he’s going to help out on the power play,” Ruff said. “He’s basically an assistant coach, like (a) consultant-type deal.”
Staal, 41, joined the Sabres’ front office last year under former GM Kevyn Adams, his friend and former teammate.
“He won’t be here daily, but he’s going to be here for a good part of every month, and it’s going to be an area he’s excited with helping out,” Ruff said.
The Sabres’ power play struggled down the stretch and into the Stanley Cup Playoffs last year. Overall, it ranked 21st in the regular season (19.5 percent) and sixth in the postseason (20.5 percent).
They’ve also struggled with faceoffs for years, annually ranking near the bottom of the NHL.
Staal enjoyed an 18-year playing career, scoring 455 goals and 1,063 points in 1,365 games. He played 37 games for the Sabres during their disastrous 2020-21 season before they traded him to the Montreal Canadiens.
He won the Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006.
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Sabres winger Jason Zucker underwent offseason sports hernia surgery and could miss the first two weeks of the regular season, Kekalainen said.
“He’s very close to the start of the year,” Kekalainen said.
Meanwhile, Kekalainen said defenseman Louis Crevier, who arrived in the offseason trade that sent Byram to the Chicago Blackhawks, underwent shoulder surgery and will likely be ready for the season opener Oct. 1.
“He looks like he’s ready,” Kekalainen said. “I think he still needs to talk to the doctor that operated on him, but we think he’ll be ready for the start of the regular season. We still don’t have a final answer on it.”
In other injury news, Ruff said center Justin Danforth, who broke his kneecap in the fourth game last year and missed the rest of season, will likely start camp with the Sabres.
After undergoing surgery last season, Danforth had another procedure to clean up cartilage that was hindering his movement.
“He had his ups and downs with trying to get back,” Ruff said. “… He’s a really competitive guy who will do almost anything to win hockey games, from blocking shots, and that’s how he got hurt.
“We felt we had a right-handed centermen who could take key faceoffs for us. There was a little bit of a decision of whether he would be at camp maybe a month ago. But he’s starting to feel good.”